There is an interesting case in VA involving a dog owner charged and convicted of animal cruelty over his decision to euthanize his ailing dog. He is appealing the conviction. Please read the article and share your thoughts. Some questions to help generate discussion:
Did the animal shelter staff adequately serve this member of their community who had no experience with end of life decisions for his dog?
How could the ACO determine how many seizures Buxton had and what, if any, amount of suffering he experienced during the 4 day period cited when no one outside the family had any contact with the dog?
Does an owner who sets up a chair in the backyard to stay with her terminally ill pet while he paces all night sound like someone AC should charge with cruelty?
Besides telling the owner he needed to be a county resident in order to have his dog euthanized at the pound and possibly telling him to take the dog to a vet, what else should shelter staff have done?
For those of you experienced with end of life decisions for your pets, have you encountered grey areas which caused you to struggle with the decisions? Did you ever consider during these times that your local AC might charge you with cruelty?
(Thanks Lisa and Michele for the link.)